The Long Nap Part IV

 

 



Part IV Continued .....

He looked at me with softer eyes than before.  He opened his hands and asked: “Well then what are your qualifications, sir?”

“If you’re asking what kind of experience I have … well, I worked at the DA’s as an investigator for about 5 years I suppose Barney told you, that.  I can still speak Pig Latin when I have to and I know the penal code, never shake it more than twice - keep your eyes on your own stream, oh and I know a little something about the law.

He smiled a little then focused on me and asked “What do you know about me, Mr. Merlot?”

I took a long draw on the brandy and said: “It all depends.” I took another sip, almost a swig.

He leaned forward a bit.  “Depends?”

I looked up from the drink “Depends on who you believe and what you want to hear.”

He sat back into the chair. “What do you hear?”

I had to stop for a minute. The old guy seemed to like me and truthfully I was warming up to him.  In fact he was alright.  I figured he could take the truth.

“You’re worth more than Roosevelt.  You made a bundle with railroads.  You were a brigadier in the war. Afterwards you lingered in England a little and got hitched to some theater dame.  You have two daughters - one wild and one mild, kind of a fire and ice thing.  They had a mother and you had a wife … once, but she disappeared kind of mysterious like.”

The General leaned forward  a little.

“Oh come, come Mr. Merlot, there is need to spare my feelings and certainly there is no mystery.  She ran off plain and simple.”

I held up my now almost empty glass and jiggled it a little. He nodded and I leaned forward enough to reach the cart and refill it.

“Fair enough, General, but no one knows, why or who with and no one has heard from her since.  That’s the mystery, isn’t it? Unless you know where she is.”

He grunted "I certainly do not, or do I want to."  He started off into space.  

“That's alright. Finding her isn't the reason you called me anyway.  Is it General?”

“No. It isn’t.” He jutted a some slips of paper toward me. “Take a look at these.”

I put down my glass and looked over the papers and then read them . 

 

“Easy Edie’s Canyon Casino?  That Eddie Ryan’s place.  I’ve heard of it. Looks like Wendy likes to play, but not to pay.   Have you had that fatherly talk with her about the evils of men?”

He shook his head.  “Wendy is the evil of men, Mr. Merlot.  I have no illusions as to either of my daughters. They are exactly as they seem. Lucile is calculating and as warm as an Eskimo pie.  Wendy is wittless and the pie everyone has had a piece of.  She listens only to her own libidinous yearnings and yields to every whim.”

“Perhaps her older sister could have some influence.”

He shook his head even harder. “Lucile has no more influence than anyone else.  As the older child she looks after Wendy the way one does when housebreaking a puppy. They both have their own finances and if Wendy runs short, Lucile makes up for it.  I’m certain that had she known about these she would have taken care of them herself.”

 
I fanned the sheath of slips in my hand. “Still, you can’t collect on gambling notes, General.”

“Turn one over. Mr. Merlot.”

There on the back was written ‘Received from by Felix Ulysses Tew; paid in full’ with a date.

I picked up the drink again and took a swig. “Who’s this Felix guy and why is he so generous?”   

“His generosity does not come without a price, Mr. Merlot. Read on.”

Further on down in a different somewhat feminine script was penned in violet ink “While children will be children I thought you might like to avoid the embarrassment none the less.”

“Extortion from the looks of it.”  I scratched my head.  “ But who is this Felix guy?”

“That sir, is what I want you to find out.”  

I set down my glass which was now empty. “Do you want me do anything about it?

“Just stop it, but quietly.”

“Do you care how?” I asked.

“Permanently, Mr. Merlot.”

I put the slips in my shirt pocket, grabbed my jacket and got up.  I looked around for my hat. “Ok General, I’ll keep it on the QT.”

He nodded then looked up at me. “Gunter will show you out.”

I was still looking for my hat when, Gunter came back into the room.  I asked. “Did you see my hat, Gunter?”

He smiled ever so slightly as he did that monocle thing again and said, “Not all that closely, sir.” 

It was then I noticed it had fallen under the beverage cart.  He noticed too and began to reach.

“I think I can get my hands on that, sir.”

“I bet, you can’t” I said grabbing it as quickly as possible. “I like anchovies” I mumbled under my breath.

Gunter turned toward the doors.  The General kind of cocked his head. “Good day, Mr. Merlot.”

“I’ll be in touch, General.”